


The Little Lion and His Stag Lady

by DK65



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-11
Packaged: 2018-07-14 10:54:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7168199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DK65/pseuds/DK65
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when a feminine!Stannis marries an aged-up!Tyrion?<br/>These characters belong to GRRM.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Little Lion and His Stag Lady

The stubborn-jawed and scowling Lady Argella was no beauty. The fact that she was tall and slender like Renly, with long curling dark hair and flashing blue eyes (very like Robert's), did nothing to detract from the fearsomeness of her scowl or the squareness of her jaw. She stood as still as a tree while they spoke their vows in the sept, knelt when required for Tyrion to remove her maiden's cloak and replace it with his own, and in other ways behaved just as a young, gently-bred lady should. But Tyrion could tell that she was not pleased to be marrying him.

Well, let her be displeased, he thought angrily. He hadn't wanted to marry either. He'd begged and pleaded with his father to let him join the sept or the maesters or even the Night's Watch, all to avoid marrying the king's sister. But father was adamant--he had already lost a son to the Kingsguard, thanks to Aerys' whim; he would not lose Tyrion, who in Tywin's eyes was a poor excuse for an heir, to his childish reluctance to wed a perfectly acceptable young woman who would bring the Lannisters even closer to the throne. So the marriage took place. The bride and groom were of an age or thereabouts; Lord Tyrion was only two years younger than the twins and Lady Argella of the scowl was the same age. Their betrothal was announced on the day that Cersei married Robert and became Queen of Westeros. 

Since both were of a stubborn temper, prone to take offense at the slightest excuse, it is likely that they would never have spoken to each other, let alone come to share the marriage bed, if they had not received news of Balon Greyjoy's planned rebellion. One of his brothers would have almost destroyed the entire Lannister fleet if Lady Argella and her little lord husband had not greeted them with a shower of stones hurled from catapults put up on the cliffs above the beaches where the ships lay. 

Tyrion had heard tales from his uncle Gerion of his lady's hardihood in withstanding the siege of Storm's End. He had also heard tales of Ser Davos Seaworth, a one-time smuggler, who had saved the garrison of Storm's End by bringing them a shipload of onions. Ser Davos had travelled to the Iron Islands for trade and had learnt, quite by chance, of Balon Greyjoy's plans. It was enough for him to set sail for Lannisport, ride hell for leather to the Rock and lay the information before Lady Argella. 

Till that moment, Lady Argella and her lord husband had scarcely exchanged more than chilly courtesies. For her part, she had seen how disdainfully Queen Cersei behaved to everyone who was not a Lannister, even treating poor, orphaned Renly like a hanger-on in her court. For his part, he had always been conscious of being a dwarf; his father had never let him forget that he had caused the death of his own mother when he was born. But now that they faced a rebellion, she somehow found the words to introduce him to Ser Davos and tell him what he had told her. That was enough for him to get his father's bannermen together to get most of the fleet into winter quarters, leaving only those boats on the beach as bait that were no longer useful in the sea. And the design of the catapults--he had been reading something on this only a day or two ago. That was his plan too. 

And then it was her decision to write to every noble house in mainland Westeros, from her own brother Robert to the meanest knight, to prepare for war. Maester Creylen wrote the letters, which she checked and got her husband to sign and seal. So it was no wonder, when Lord Tywin publicly honoured all his bannermen and men-at-arms, ignoring her lord husband, that Lady Argella was enraged. She concealed her rage but spoke eloquently to her brother and his friend, Lord Stark, who always treated her with a gentle courtesy, of how hard Lord Tyrion had worked to defend his lord father's fleet and how his father had treated all that he had done as a matter of course. That was all it needed for Robert to insist that Tyrion, as the son of a great lord and husband to the king's sister, belonged on his small council, while his sister's presence was necessary to add lustre to his court.  
Perhaps if Lady Argella and Lord Tyrion had remained at the Rock, they would have remained unaware of much and more that occurred at court. For instance, the birth of three blonde-haired green-eyed children to the queen; the king's drunkenness and his propensity to grab the first serving wench that caught his eye; the rapid rise to power of Lord Petyr Baelish and his friendship with the Lord Hand's wife. And Lord Renly's excessive affection for and reliance on Ser Loras Tyrell.

"My dear Argella, I think you enlarge on it too much; it is not uncommon for two children fostered together, like your brother and Lord Ned Stark, or Lord Petyr and the Tully girls, to look upon each other like surrogate siblings. And then, Lord Jon is so very much older than Lady Lysa," said Lord Tyrion to his wife, who was frowning into the distance.

"I don't like it," she said in her decided manner. "Renly's been telling me how he speaks of Lady Catelyn and Lady Lysa. This is no way for a foster brother to speak of his sisters. And you're not too happy about his handling of the coinage, are you, my lord?"

"No, I'm not," said her husband, sitting up suddenly. He'd been lolling on a couch, munching grapes by the handful, as he chatted with her. "His accounts don't add up."

"And he's encouraging Robert to borrow for every tournament he holds." said Argella angrily. "Pray, tell me, my lord, how much does the crown owe the Lannisters, the Faith of the Seven and the Iron Bank? How will we repay all this, if our debts should be called in?"

Lord Tyrion sighed. He knew what she meant. They had often discussed how the debt could be paid off. "If the Iron Bank were to buy off the debt held by the Faith of the Seven and the Lannisters," his wife told him one day, "we could pay them off by selling them wood for their ships from the Riverlands and the North. Robert says Ned Stark wants to settle the Gift--you know, the land that lies along the Wall--and they will need to clear it. The Stormlands could help pay off the debt with foodstuffs--the Braavosi import all they eat. Perhaps you should speak of this ..." And he did--to the King, to the Lord Hand and even to the Master of Coin. The Lord Hand was eager to begin; the King encouraged him to do so, but the Master of Coin was too busy hemming and hawing.

And then, there was Cersei, who was enraged, not only because her least favourite sibling and his wife were at court and on the Small Council, but also because they were talking of paying off the crown's debt, to all its creditors. The Lannister debt to the crown, she felt, was all the power that she had--that, and her three children. She ensured, through Pycelle and Lord Tywin, that the plan to sell off the crown's debt came to nought.

And then, both Tyrion and Argella began reading the book on Lineages. At first, they would read it as a means to relax after performing their marital duties (which both found surprisingly pleasant, if not downright enjoyable). And then, both of them noticed the description given of Baratheon children, even when married to Lannister women. 

It is not known which of them hit upon it first. Perhaps it was Tyrion, because he was still very close to Jaime, despite his happy marriage to Argella. The twins had always been very close, even when they were children. But he did notice how Jaime, although fawned upon by all the beautiful ladies at court, cared for no one other than Cersei. Perhaps he noticed them exchange glances during a feast. Whatever the reason, he was soon in the Lord Hand's solar, with the book of lineages in his hands.   
It did not take Jon Arryn long to confirm their suspicions. That was sufficient for Argella and Tyrion to plan a visit to the North, to meet Lord Stark, the king's dearest friend, and for the Lord Hand to send his wife and her son to the Vale. The two great ladies travelled together; Lord Tyrion and Lady Argella sailed from Gulltown for White Harbour after seeing Lady Lysa and Lord Robert safely ascend to the Eyrie. By the time they reached Winterfell, Lady Argella was due to give birth and Lord Jon Arryn had informed his king of his wife's infidelity. 

Lord Tywin's use of the debt owed by the Crown to the Lannisters was of little avail, for Lord Tyrion had already left (from Eastwatch) for Braavos, and negotiated a treaty with the Braavosi Iron Bank. According to this treaty, the Bank would buy all the Crown's debts from the Lannisters and the Faith of the Seven. In return, the Crown would pay off this debt by giving Braavos access to timber from the north (from Brandon's and Alysanne's Gifts) and foodstuffs from the south. Moreover, the birth of Lady Argella's little boy--hale, hearty, black of hair and blue of eye--meant that the Baratheon-Lannister alliance was flourishing. King Robert made it known that his nephew Steffon Gerion Lannister would be his heir, not his brother Renly, as some had supposed. He named the boy's parents Lord and Lady of Dragonstone, much to Argella's annoyance; she had always longed to return to Storm's End as its lady. But she was not displeased at the turn of events. Although Ser Loras Tyrell's friendship with Renly Baratheon continued to flourish, there was now little talk of bringing his sister Margaery to court.

Although Lord Tywin did complain about the executions of his eldest son and grandson Joffrey, his daughter being sent to the silent sisters, Myrcella being sent to the sept and Tommen to the Night's Watch as a squire for Benjen Stark, he bore his disappointments philosophically. His grandson--very well, the son of his least favourite child--would become a king of Westeros sometime in the future. If Argella continued to be as fertile as she had proved to be, he would yet have a child of his blood as Lord of Storm's End and of the Rock. This thought sustained him, even when Tyrion became Lord Hand after Lord Jon Arryn's death.


End file.
